A television series version of Let the Right One In will be premiering on Showtime sometime this fall, and today Entertainment Weekly got their hands on a batch of images from the show. You can check them out at the bottom of this article and get your first look at the characters of Isaiah, Eleanor, and Mark.
Based on the John Ajvide Lindqvist novel (buy it HERE), which previously served as the inspiration for a 2008 Swedish film directed by Tomas Alfredson (watch that HERE) and a 2010 English-language film directed by Matt Reeves (watch that one HERE), Let the Right One In centers on
Mark and his 12-year-old daughter, whose lives were changed forever 10 years earlier when she was turned into a vampire. Locked in at age 12, perhaps forever, Eleanor lives a closed-in life, able to go out only at night, while her father does his best to provide her with the minimal amount of human blood she needs to stay alive.
Here’s a little more information:
After she was bitten by a mysterious creature, Eleanor and her father, Mark, were forced to live in the shadows and commit shameful acts to keep her alive. When she returns to New York City, Eleanor meets a friend who reignites her desire to regain her humanity, even as her condition brings out an animalistic power.
The series will star Demián Bichir as Mark; Madison Taylor Baez as the youthful vampire Eleanor; Anika Noni Rose as Naomi, Mark and Eleanor’s next door neighbor, who happens to be a homicide detective; Grace Gummer as Claire, “the heiress of a pharmaceutical empire and a brilliant scientist”; Kevin Carroll as Zeke Dawes, “the charismatic owner of a successful restaurant and one of Mark’s oldest confidants as well as one of the few people who know about Eleanor’s condition”; Jacob Buster as Peter, “who suffers the same affliction as Eleanor. When his father tests a potential cure on him that backfires, a terrifying monster is unleashed”; Nick Stahl as Matthew, “a former soldier and fiercely loyal fixer for the Logan family, whose clean-cut, mild-mannered exterior belies a savagery beneath”; Željko Ivanek as Arthur, “a scientist who is the father of Claire and the former CEO of a once proud but now disgraced pharmaceutical empire”; Fernanda Andrade as Elizabeth, “the spirited wife of Mark and devoted mother of Eleanor. Elizabeth’s love for her family motivates her to go to any length to protect them”; Jimmie Saito as Ben, “a dedicated NYPD homicide detective, a loyal partner and true friend to Naomi”; Josh Wingate as Roland, “former special ops and a loyal disciple of Matthew”; Caroline Neff as Danielle Wilson, “the talented head chef of Zeke’s restaurant, and the new boss of Mark”; and Ian Foreman as Isaiah, “the quiet, sensitive, and small for his age kid who loves magic and is an easy target for the other boys at school. He does find a true friend in Eleanor, but has no idea the threat she poses”.
Seith Mann and Andrew Hinderaker are the showrunners, and Mann directed the pilot episode from a script by Hinderaker. This Let the Right One In is produced by Tomorrow Studios. Hinderaker and Mann (who will direct more episodes beyond the pilot) serve as executive producers alongside Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements for Tomorrow Studios (a partnership between Adelstein and ITV Studios). Alissa Bachner is co-executive producer, and Bichir is a producer on the series.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Hinderaker said,
The [original] film is about a relationship between an isolated bullied boy and an isolated lonely girl, who we learn is a vampire. What I found so compelling about that film is there’s a much smaller relationship between the vampire and [her] adult caretaker. I really used the film as inspiration for a story that really focuses on a 12-year-old girl who has been a vampire for 10 years. She has been taken care of by her father, who keeps her alive, who keeps them ahead of the law, and who has kept hope alive for both of them that one day they will find a cure and this won’t be her life always. … It was important to me to aspire to capture the spirit of the film and for the show to be a love letter to it. In the film, there is that relationship between the two children that is so pivotal in terms of what makes it iconic, what makes it so beautiful. So, this father and daughter move next door to another 12-year-old child, Isaiah, a boy who is isolated and bullied. Isaiah and Madison, our vampire, form a truly powerful and precarious friendship that’s made all the more precarious because Isaiah’s mother is a homicide detective.”
Entertainment Weekly also spoke to Bichir about the show, and you can read his comments at the page linked above.
For now, check out these images and let us know what you think of them by leaving a comment:
